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10% of global population lives where same-sex couples are free to marry

Last month, as marriage supporters celebrated the freedom to marry coming to Oregon, Pennsylvania, and the European country of Luxembourg, the global movement for the freedom to marry surpassed an important milestone: As of May 2014, 10 percent of the world's population now lives in a place where same-sex couples are free to marry. Out of a global population of approximately 7.177 billion people, 718 million now live in a freedom-to-marry jurisdiction.

Same-sex couples can share (or will soon be able to share) in the freedom to marry in 19 countries. Nationwide, gay and lesbian people are free to marry in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England/Wales/Scotland, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay. In Mexico and the United States, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry in some jurisdictions, with 44% of the United States population living in 19 marriage states and the District of Columbia and Mexico City and the state of Quintana Roo representing Mexico.

Freedom to Marry's founder and president Evan Wolfson celebrated the landmark occasion in a statement. He said:

The global momentum for the freedom to marry reflects and reinforces the progress we are making here in the United States – even as we need to finish the job here at home,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry. “We’re now at 10% of the world’s population, up from zero little more than a decade ago. But with intensifying assaults on the human rights of gay people and women underway in so many parts of the world, we must get the U.S. where it should be and redouble the commitment to human rights worldwide. 10% with the freedom to marry is more than many people realize, and much better than zero, but far short of the 100% that human rights principles require and all the world’s people deserve.